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Support, compassion help fill growing need

RODNEY BIVENS •
Published: June 17, 2009

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The number of people seeking food assistance is greater now than any time in the 30-year history of the Regional Food Bank. Thankfully, Oklahomans are incredibly generous. When we asked our friends, neighbors and corporate partners to help fill the need during our Feeding Hope and Letter Carriers Food Drive — you responded in record-breaking ways.

Because of your generosity, this effort is our largest food/fund drive of the year. During this year’s food drive, we collected 679,766 pounds of food and raised $580,394, allowing us to provide nearly 4.6 million meals. We greatly thank the community, our sponsors and partners for your continued support in our fight against hunger in Oklahoma. We will not solve hunger today, but we can make hungry lives less harsh, less tragic and less desperate. Thank you for caring. Thank you for sharing.

We had ample volunteer support at post offices; we had corporate sponsors honor commitments in tough times; we had enthusiastic letter carriers picking up and returning canned food donations; we had Oklahomans filling plastic bags to the brim to help those less fortunate; we had local businesses creating crazy office games to motivate employees; we had an unprecedented $496,000 donation from Devon Energy and their employees; and all this because we, as Oklahomans, care.

We care about seniors who can’t afford prescriptions and food; we care about families living out of cars because parents are jobless with depleted savings; and we care about the child going to school on Monday morning hungry — we care!

We are continually amazed by Oklahomans’ generosity. During a time of economic uncertainty, Oklahomans responded again to one of our most basic needs — food.